Death of a Princess
by Conterra-san
Summary: The result of pent up hatred towards Azula. Three one-shots dedicated to the death of a particular princess at the hand of her brother. If you hate Azula as a person but love her as a character, this is for you.
1. Zuko's Eyes: Golden Gates

A/N: I am not usually so morbid. However, I am having intense bouts of raging hatred at Azula.

Three one-shots, with the theme of Zuko besting and killing Azula.

_**One**_

**Zuko's Eyes:**

**Golden Gates**

_The bittersweet taste of irony floods my mouth as I realize how this dream of mine has turned out. _

_I am finally sovereign._

_But this place is not what I always saw in my glorified visions. I am the FIRE princess. I should be ruling the FIRE Nation. Not the EARTH Kingdom. _

_Agni laughs at Fate. _

_But this is what Fate has thrown to me, its _servile_ dog. Ha! But I shall take this. _

_Ahh. Another taste enters my mouth. _

_Fear. I lick my lips. _

_The city has found out, I suppose, but I'm not sure how that that happened. They are scared, and they should be. Victory for my father is close at hand. _

_I am nearly satisfied. I have only one thing left to finish. _

_My brother. _

_He is the last tree fallen across my path. Usually I go around or climb over obstacles in my way. But this time is different. This time I must physically remove the obstruction, something I am perfectly willing to do. _

_He has been my chief annoyance from the day I was born—maybe even earlier. He stole the love of Mother, and continues to divert the attention of my father. _

_He can't have—my father will—I can't let—_

_My brother must die. I cannot _stand_ him any longer and his usefulness has outlived itself. _

_Who—oh. _Oh.

_Perfect. Zuzu. _

Princess Azula turned towards her sibling, smiling icily. "Brother. So good to see you."

"Azula," he nodded. "The Dai Lee want you."

"Do they?" she smirked. "Can't run the city without me?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "Apparently."

"I've been thinking, Zuko," she told him soothingly, placing a hand on his arm. She had to lure him farther into the false sense of security she had built for him. "We need to spend more time together. We need to feel more like a family again. I feel as though I don't know you anymore."

"No," he said in that infuriatingly impassive way of his. "You don't know me anymore."

Azula shifted uncomfortably. There was something odd in his eyes, something flickering there, something she had never seen before. . .she blinked, somewhat bemused. "I'm glad you agree," she murmured smoothly, striving to seem unshaken. "Come, brother. The Dai Lee are waiting."

_What? No! He can't DO this! Great Agni. That's a wall. . ._

Azula was lying dazed and crumpled at the base of the wall Zuko had thrown her into, the rich Earth Kingdom rungs lying there doing nothing to cushion her fall. She realized in panic that her body wouldn't move.

His shadow fell across her, and she looked up, feeling the first pricklings of fear.

"They're going to have to wait, I suppose," Zuko mused, looking down thoughtfully at the now bedraggled princess. "Of course I knew your ambitions. Did you really think I would betray Uncle? He's my father now. I don't need to listen to that monster on the throne anymore. I have my own honor."

"Not. . .monster!" she gritted out.

_What did he _do_ to me? I can't move! I'm bleeding. . ._

Zuko smirked and produced a dagger. "Temporary paralysis. Just long enough for my purposes. You won't interfere with anyone ever again, sister mine. The Avatar will kill Ozai, and the world will be in the balance once again; the way it was supposed to be."

"Who are you?" Azula gasped desperately against the numb horror choking her throat. "And what have you done with my brother?"

He grinned, a terrifying sight. "I am justice." He ignited the rugs around her with flame from his fists. "And I _am _your brother."

She could only watch helplessly as the greedy, crackling fire gleefully crept closer. "Don't. . .Zuko. . ."

"Live what you visited upon others, Azula," he grated through his teeth hoarsely, clearly unhappy.

"Please. . ."

"Goodbye, Azula," he whispered, his sorrow surprisingly echoing amid the raging blaze.

He turned and left silently the same way he had came.

_ZUKO! No, Zuko—__I can't believe—please, please, you—_

_Gods and spirits, I can still see your eyes, brother!_

_The triumph and remorse raging in those molten depths stay with me, shake me. In your smoldering golden pools—identical to mine! We were one in the same!—I seem to see gates. _

_Gates. _

_Someone is screaming, a gut-wrenchingly horrible sound._

_Flames burst abruptly from the suddenly smoking gates. What—? _

_Oh Agni! __It's me. It's me! _

I'm_ the one screaming. . ._

**THE END**

A/N: This was written for the sole purpose of killing Azula. Case closed.

Zuko: Hey, Conterra, I was wondering if I could kill Azula.

C: -scoffs- how are you going to do that?

Zuko: errr. . .ha ha. I thought you were going to figure that out. The best plan I had was to stab her in the back while she was sleeping, but I came upon a minor stumbling block.

C: Oh? What was that?

Zuko: Heh, heh, couldn't find a knife. Had to settle for a spoon.

C: -hits forehead-

Zuko: Now armed with spoon, I must find Azula's room! I think it was this way. . . -runs into dead end wall- Or maybe not.

C: Here, Zuko. Let me help you with that.

That's exactly how this happened. And if you don't review this, then Zuko will come and shave your hair down to a horsetail with his spoon!


	2. Zuko's Agni Kai: A Death of Midnight

A/N: This is obviously a poem, and the title makes it pretty clear as to what the subject matter is.

_**Two**_

**Zuko's Agni Kai:**

**A Death of Midnight**

Falling through heady mists  
Tinted dark with twilight  
And sweet with fear  
Whose fear?  
The woman falling  
Perceives an unseen menace  
Triggers her emotion.

Rising from the slumber  
Entrapping her being  
And cloying her senses  
Who does she sense?  
Before her is the man  
She was supposed to call brother  
Come to seek vengeance.

Struggling to break haze  
Crimson with anger  
And veiling her sight  
Who does she see?  
The woman previously fearless  
Struggles with lethargic midnight  
She must face her brother _now_.

Panicking in the dark  
Blocking her strength  
And breaking her focus  
What does she realize?  
He she thought weak  
Has excelled beyond possibility  
He has chosen his time well.

Flailing from her fire  
Betraying her this night  
And slumbering dully in her heart  
Who does she curse?  
Herself, for her inattentiveness  
Her foolish pride, for clouding her judgment  
She is unprepared.

Drowning now in folly  
Dark-hued with his passion  
And bitter with his purpose  
What does she know?  
Her brother's determination, his righteousness  
Both traits she jealously viewed  
Have finally prevailed.

Vanishing into darkness  
Streaked with spirit's grist  
And vindictively covetous of her mind  
Who does she call to?  
"Brother mine, you have destroyed me,  
I know not how, I was the chosen of us two,  
but please, have mercy. . .Agni, have mercy."

**THE END**

A/N: This one was written rather randomly, but was a good break between the previous one and the next.

Review or Aang will draw arrows on you!


	3. Zuko's Mantra: Never Give Up

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar: The Last Airbender, Azula would be dead, Long Feng would be dead, Ozai (the bloody git) would be dead, Aang (my son -this is a joke-) would be madly in love with Toph (who kicks some major ass) or a doomed bachelor, Jet would actually have a life (therefore being ALIVE), and Zutara would be canon. Obviously, I have no say in anything.

Just for the record, I have come to the conclusion most British swear words are a thousand times better than American ones. This is nondisputational (that's not a word, so don't use it).

_**Three**_

**Zuko's Mantra:**

**Never Give Up**

**or The Best Laid Plans. . .**

**or Wait Until the End For the Best Title**

Azula was peeved.

"Peeved" was actually a bizarre word. An outlandish word.

Fire Princess Azula, daughter of Ozai, and heir apparent to the throne of the Fire Nation was never peeved. Icy anger, calm indifference, and controlled impatience were all regular emotions for Azula. She could not remember the last time she had told herself she was peeved. Peeved was not an emotion fitting for a princess.

But nevertheless, Azula had to admit she was peeved.

Her worthless brother, Zuzu, —she sneered in disgust— had finally decided to help her when she had actually needed support. Odd. The boy still had some sort of convoluted loyalty system in his heart. Azula did not, aside from her undying dedication to her father and his throne. What would become her throne in time.

Zuzu would have to die. She needed him gone so he was no longer a threat to her destiny. He was a fool to think she would actually give him back his honor. He was a fool to trust her. Her objective was to destroy him, and he should have known that. Better to run with her good-for-nothing excuse for an uncle. Maybe he would have lived.

Maybe.

Azula crept down the hall towards her brother's room. _He would ruin the Fire Nation, _she told herself gleefully. _I must remove him for the good of all._ She smirked. _Especially me. _

She carefully pushed the door open, biting back a chuckle when she saw his form sprawled on the bed. The dagger—his dagger—that had drunk Azulon's lifeblood was clenched in her fist. It only seemed fitting that Zuzu feel its bite of death as well.

She padded silently towards the bed. Victory was to be finally hers. She would remove her only obstacle and the stain on her father's honor all in one purge. She bit her lip to keep from laughing in maniacal glee. At last! Soft moonlight fell past her cheek as she turned her back to Zuzu's balcony door and raised the knife above her head, her hand shaking with illicit pleasure.

Her last mistake.

Lightning struck her full force in the back, her traitorous body failing to redirect the unsuspected blast, a mere hurried heartbeat after she realized there wasn't a breathing form on the bed. Stunned, pain drove her to her knees. Through the ringing in her ears she heard a low, virile voice say smugly, "Looking for me?"

"Zuko!" she gasped, shock waves running through her nervous system like fire in a forest.

"You underestimated me, sister. You think I'm weak? You think I'm foolish? When I knew you, those many years ago, I lived by a mantra, and it was 'Azula-always-lies.' Nothing has changed. Now you will never be able to mislead me again."

Azula's body was recovering. She drew herself up and began to rise, but strong arms forced her back down. "You—" she gasped.

"Win?" he asked softly. She arched her back, letting out an agonized scream of pain. By some curse of Angi, she could feel herself burning and bleeding from the inside out. She was—dying? No! This couldn't be! This was supposed to be her sweet moment of triumph!

"Goodbye, sister," Zuko whispered, a sad, regretful tone in his voice as he pulled his burning sword out of the hole weeping blood and flame in her back. His dagger fell from her nerveless fingers, and she toppled to follow it to the floor. Her clouding, dying eyes watched its gleaming blade spin aimlessly on the glossy tiles. _This—this cannot be_, her mind stuttered. The blade stopped a fraction of a second before her breathing, the inscription written there mocking her fleeing soul into the void.

_Never give up without a fight. _

**THE END**

**of**

**SHE GOT FRIED AND BLEEDING DIED**

A/N: Heh, I wanted it to be like: The blade stopped a fraction of a second before her breathing, the inscription written there mocking her fleeing soul into the void. _Made in the Earth Kingdom._ BUT my friend Cryssi, blackvelvetband, stopped me from ruining the death scene (blame her) and we (she) figured you'd be mad if I had actually done that. But seriously, that would have been funny, right?

I am like one of the biggest Zuko fangirls, and I would probably shoot him if he did something as ridiculous as any of these one-shots, but, hey. "She's crazy and she needs to go down." Which was why I was so frustrated when "she needs to go down" turned into "oh, she's insane so no problem there."

Why couldn't she have just died?

I was totally in support of Zuko not killing his father, but _come on_, why isn't Azula dead?!

Check out my other Avatar fics, which are either Zuko-centric or Zutara, and until next time:

May the force be with you and may the strength of the Valar protect you.

~Conterra-hime


End file.
